Michigan program
A medical hold on utility shut-off
A doctor’s or public-health official’s certification can delay a utility shut-off during a medical emergency.
What it is
A doctor’s or public-health official’s certification can delay a utility shut-off during a medical emergency.
A utility shut-off can create a medical problem during treatment. The utility needs certification of a medical emergency. This protection gives time to address the bill, rather than canceling the debt.
Eligibility rules
- A doctor or public-health official certifies that losing service would worsen a medical emergency; the utility gives three working days to send the form, then holds off for 21 days. Renewals are capped at 63 days per person and 126 days per household in a year. The bill stays owed.
- Your utility’s type matters; the same protection may not apply to municipal or cooperative suppliers.
What you get
- An initial medical-emergency hold of up to 21 days for covered service.
- Renewed protection within the 63-day per-person and 126-day household limits in any 12 months.
What the help covers
- A medical hold postpones shutoff or supports restoration; it does not pay or cancel the bill. For service covered by the commission rule, a deposit or after-hours reconnect charge cannot be required as a condition of medically necessary restoration, although valid account charges may still need a payment arrangement. Municipal and cooperative supplier procedures require their own check; water and delivered fuel are not automatically covered by the commission’s electric/gas rule.
If you decide to apply
- Ask the utility what form it requires for a medical-emergency certification.
- Ask the oncologist or a public-health official to document the emergency and send the required certification.
The utility, under the regulator’s rules · Official page ↗
If you decide to apply
- The utility reviews the certification under the applicable rules. Ask it to confirm the hold and end date in writing.
Good to know
A medical hold does not erase the bill. The utility and social worker can check which protection fits the supplier and certified need.
Other details
- Extensions need to be checked with the utility. The household maximum is not an automatic initial hold.
Official sources
“If we face shut-off, could a medical certificate protect service? What would it cover and leave unpaid, and could you help arrange it if the doctor thinks it fits?”
Why I’m asking: I want to know how to protect medically important utility service while addressing the bill.
More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules
Who does what
The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.
You
Call the utility and ask what form the certification takes.
Your social worker
The oncologist or a public-health official signs it.
The care team
The doctor certifies the medical emergency.
- Who decides
- The utility, under the regulator’s rules.
- Ask your social worker
- “A shut-off notice has arrived. Can the doctor certify a medical emergency to the utility today?”
How to apply
First step: Call the utility the day a notice arrives and ask what it needs from the doctor.
- Ask the social worker and utility what certification and timing apply to the notice.
- The physician or public-health official supplies the medical certification if appropriate.
- Discuss SER or another energy-assistance route separately, including its tradeoffs and deadlines before deciding whether to request help.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Ask the oncologist or a public-health official to certify the medical emergency to the utility.
What to gather
- The shut-off notice
- The doctor’s contact details
- Your account number
How long: A certified medical emergency can postpone covered shutoff for up to 21 days. Renewals require new certification, within 63 days per person and 126 days per household in any 12 months.
What a yes looks like
The shut-off date moves and the account is flagged.
What a no looks like, and the next move
The utility explains which protection applies and what certification is needed. The social worker can help check supplier-specific rules.
Watch out
- It holds the shut-off; it does not erase the bill.
- Critical-care protection is a higher bar and needs an immediately life-threatening risk.
- Municipal and cooperative electricity suppliers may not offer the same protections. Ask yours.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
A certified medical emergency can postpone covered shutoff for up to 21 days. Renewals require new certification, within 63 days per person and 126 days per household in any 12 months.
- $21 — Initial medical-emergency hold, up to 21 days
- $63 — Per-person maximum in any 12 months, renewed certification required
- $126 — Household maximum in any 12 months, renewed certification required
Legal protection: A certified medical emergency holds off the shut-off
What it costs the family: None, and it does not erase the bill.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Who
- certified by a physician or public-health official
- Caution
- municipal and cooperative electricity suppliers may not offer the same protections
The trap: Critical-care protection is a different, higher bar: it needs an immediately life-threatening risk and annual certification. A cancer diagnosis on its own does not meet it.
Where I read this
- MPSC: Home Energy, Telephone and Internet Assistance for Customers — Michigan Public Service Commission, read September 10, 2026